The Church in Dark Times: Understanding and Resisting the Evil That Seduced the Evangelical Movement

We expect evil to appear in obvious forms: malice, cruelty, and contempt. We also expect to find villains at the helm of evil movements and organizations, leaders with dark impulses and motivations. But all too often, malevolence is more subtle, hiding behind our own best intentions.

In The Church in Dark Times, cultural critic Mike Cosper unveils this dynamic in the growing crisis of abuse and other failures in modern evangelical churches. Drawing on the work of twentieth-century political theorist Hannah Arendt, Cosper explores what we can learn from her theory of the "banality of evil"--the thoughtlessness that allows ordinary people to become complicit in all manner of corruption. He uncovers the underlying causes of the breakdowns of the church and offers practices that foster healing and renewal.

This book will engage Christian leaders and all followers who want to better understand how church crises keep happening--and how we can resist them and move forward.

Mike Cosper has been creating music, radio shows, and podcasts for more than twenty years. He produced and hosted The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast and is director of podcasts at Christianity Today. He now cohosts a weekly podcast called The Bulletin. Cosper also leads cohorts for church leaders and is the author of six books, including Recapturing the Wonder. He and his family live in Louisville, Kentucky.